996 (1998 - 2003) review
The 996 motor has put a new heart into perhaps the best-looking bike of all time
Carl Fogarty. The Aprilia RSV Mille. Neil Hodgson. The Honda VTR1000 Firestorm. James Toseland. Suzuki's TL1000. Troy Bayliss and, finally, Ducati themselves. None of the above would either be here today or where they are today without the beautiful, seminal 916.
Developed in 1993 and launched in 1994, the 916 Strada was an astounding success. It had journalists spluttering for the superlatives and Foggy reaching for the World Superbike title in the bike's very first year of production. The 916 was a quantum leap forward.
Looks and performance-wise the bike was a winner. With lines from the pen of Massimo Tamburini and an eight-valve, liquid-cooled motor from the genius of Massimo Bordi, form and function hadn't been seen moulded together so perfectly since The Creation itself.
It wasn't the most powerful (100bhp at the wheel for a 916), it wasn't the lightest (around 200kg) and it could be agony to ride if you were anything but the perfect size for it, but the 916 was the most beautiful motorcycle then created and it's still the benchmark for two-wheeled exotica today.
Better still, it spawned a family of bikes which spanned a whole decade, as well as a host of imitators - although none of which came close to capturing the essence of the Ducati.
But two things were wrong with the 916. Firstly, it was too expensive and secondly, it was too unreliable.
Read more: http://www.visordown.com/road-tests-used/used-review-ducati-916---996---998/4312.html#ixzz0xcI1MxqO
Carl Fogarty. The Aprilia RSV Mille. Neil Hodgson. The Honda VTR1000 Firestorm. James Toseland. Suzuki's TL1000. Troy Bayliss and, finally, Ducati themselves. None of the above would either be here today or where they are today without the beautiful, seminal 916.
Developed in 1993 and launched in 1994, the 916 Strada was an astounding success. It had journalists spluttering for the superlatives and Foggy reaching for the World Superbike title in the bike's very first year of production. The 916 was a quantum leap forward.
Looks and performance-wise the bike was a winner. With lines from the pen of Massimo Tamburini and an eight-valve, liquid-cooled motor from the genius of Massimo Bordi, form and function hadn't been seen moulded together so perfectly since The Creation itself.
It wasn't the most powerful (100bhp at the wheel for a 916), it wasn't the lightest (around 200kg) and it could be agony to ride if you were anything but the perfect size for it, but the 916 was the most beautiful motorcycle then created and it's still the benchmark for two-wheeled exotica today.
Better still, it spawned a family of bikes which spanned a whole decade, as well as a host of imitators - although none of which came close to capturing the essence of the Ducati.
But two things were wrong with the 916. Firstly, it was too expensive and secondly, it was too unreliable.
Read more: http://www.visordown.com/road-tests-used/used-review-ducati-916---996---998/4312.html#ixzz0xcI1MxqO
